International Association of Transport Museums visit Downpatrick
On Wednesday 16th September, we were delighted to welcome a group of 20 museum professionals. All were members of the International Association of Transport Museums (IATM), who were visiting Northern Ireland. The members were from a wide range of countries: Germany, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and India, as well as representatives from London […]
Congratulations Des
If you visited us on Saturday 12th September, you will have noticed that preserved 121 Class Locomotive 124 was sporting L-plates front and rear. You might have wondered what was going on. It was exam day for driver Des Sage. Des had completed two years of intensive training to get to this stage. This included […]
Jack passes his shunter exam
Well done to Jack Turner, who successfully passed his exam on Saturday to become DCDR’s newest shunter. Having completed the necessary training, Jack’s progress was put to the test on Saturday. This consisted of a practical assessment followed by a theory exam. After a few hours torturing him with questions, observing him carry out shunt […]
Diesel Gala sees passenger debut of GM 190
Our annual diesel gala on Saturday 29th August was a huge amount of fun for all our passengers (and the hard-working volunteers too). The rain did not dampen spirits, with a number of ‘firsts’ for us, and for preservation in general. Cab rides in the station with 124 at the start of the day proved […]
80 class test runs
Anyone travelling on our summer trains on Saturday 1st August will have seen strange things afoot on the South Line. Our locos team were carrying out shunting and testing with some of our 80 class vehicles. We took the opportunity to turn careworn 80 class power car 90 on the newly restored triangle. This was […]
Concrete progress on our point rodding
If you’ve visited our railway recently? You may have noticed a bit more of a “traditional mainline” feel about our track. Can’t put your finger on what it is? Well, the devil is in the detail. For some time now a small team, led by Robin Haldane, has been creating and installing what are known […]
Rare Irish freight wagons arrive at Downpatrick
Over the last two weeks, we’ve quietly been taking delivery of a few new additions to our historic wagon fleet. The ‘new’ (to us) wagons consist of two 22ft container flats, and the last remaining example of a CIÉ pallet van. Our thanks go to the private owner who saved these wagons and kindly donated […]
Another generous donation: an original UTA rolling stock book
Yesterday, we were grateful to receive a UTA rolling stock book as a donation from Terrance Bradley. The book dates from 1949 and contains images and diagrams of many examples of UTA vehicles, as well as a selection of unidentified structures and track plans. Our curator is already looking forward to the puzzle of figuring […]
Rare O&K ‘Zwiebelpfeife’ whistle donated to our railway
We recently got a very unexpected donation from a visitor. He had a piece of one of our steam engines in his attic for over 50 years! In the 1960s, Blundell lived close to where our two O&K locos, Nos. 1 and 3, were stored before they were preserved at Downpatrick. As the engines were […]
Jurassic Express weekend 2026 – something to roar about
What a weekend that was, with eight packed trains of brave adventurers travelling back to the age of the dinosaurs at our Jurassic Express dinosaur event, transported there by our team of train-a-saurus drivers (groan). With dinosaur eggs on the train out, a fantastic interactive dinosaur show in the leafy jungle at Inch Abbey, and […]